Pyrus Virus
by DuskStarDragon
Summary: The Autobots are adjusting to their lives on Earth and into their new role as Sari's guardians. Things are going well... that is until Bumblebee does something that he shouldn't have. His mistake puts the entire team at risk. They must pull together to face something that came deep from the bowels of the internet. Transformers: Animated.
1. Begining of Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Animated. I do own my own creations, so please do not plagiarize. If you do, you will spontaneously combust and I will laugh at the ashes of your remains.

I had threatened to do a long time ago and I'm finally doing. I am finally updating this story. I've always had a soft spot for this story and after reading it again after so long… I was almost embarrassed by it. It deserved this 'upgrade' if you will. I'm doing this more for myself as an evolving writer. However, a few words of encouragement are appreciated. That is, drop a review if you will. I know that I will receive criticism for using the same title, but I thought long and hard about a new title. Nothing sounded as good as the original. I guess I'm just a little too attached to it. Say something if you will, but the name is staying. With that said, Please enjoy the new and hopefully better 'Pyrus Virus'.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

It was so close. There was just a sliver of beating red energy in both of their bars. It would only take one more hit and their opponent would fall before their skill and might. It all came down to this. One solid punch or kick. All they had to do was wait for the right moment. It was a game of cat and mouse up until that point. The final showdown. The right moment… to hit the button…

"GOTCHA!" Sari yelled as she quickly tapped the A button.

Her chosen fight avatar twirled around on the screen. Gracefully, she spun her muscled HD graphic legs in a perfect roundhouse. Her foot found its target. The impact of the tremendous kick sent the other avatar flying across the 2D scene. He grunted and groaned and let out his iconic death cry. The actions slowed as male avatar bounced and skidded away from his opponent. Sari's warrior jumped and proudly announced her victory. The game scene faded and flashing text appeared.

"Rematch? Rematch?" the game asked the players.

"NO! I don't want a rematch!" Bumblebee yelled at the screen, "Stupid controller must be busted," he growled down at it.

"Jeez Bee," Sari smirked, "It's just a game… A game that I am totally owning you at!" she laughed.

Bulkhead sighed, "What's that earth saying? … oh yeah…," he remembered, "You're being a sore winner Sari."

"What?" Sari snorted, "I can't help it if I'm just that good… and beat Bumblebee twelve times!" she started her own victory dance.

"It hasn't been twelve times!" Bumblebee protested, "You've only won like six times."

"No way!" Sari threw her hands on her hips, "I've won more than that! Right Bulkhead?" she looked over at him.

In truth, he hadn't been keeping count. He had been waiting patiently for his turn. It was almost any hour ago that he wanted to play the winner. Sari and Bee agreed, but he would have to wait; they were in the middle of a Grand Championship and the winner had yet to be decided. He just wanted to play.

"Umm…," he scratched his head.

"Great!" Bumblebee snorted, "Now we have start all over again!"

"No way! I beat you fair and square! I am the Grand Champion!" Sari yelled.

"Nuh-uh!" he disagreed, "if you won't play, then you forfeit and I am declared the Champion."

"That's totally unfair! I beat you!" she continued to yell, "You know that I won!"

It only got worse from there. Insults and assertions of cheating found their way into the yelling match. There was even a suspicion that someone or some bot couldn't count. Soon it was hard to tell what was coming out of whose mouth.

"Uh-huh!" Sari yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Nuh-uh!" Bumblebee yelled right back.

"Uh-huh!" Sari retorted back.

"Nuh-uh!" Bumblebee snapped.

"Guys?" Bulkhead tried to get their attention.

They weren't listening.

"Guys?" he tried once more.

Their yelling match only continued.

"GUYS!" he slammed his fist down.

"Whoa there big fella," Bumblebee was surprised by his reaction.

"Yeah…," Sari nervously smiled, "No need to get upset."

Bulkhead sighed, "Sorry. I just don't like it when you two fight. Especially when it's over a stupid game."

Sari and Bumblebee to one another. It was rather dumb that they were fighting over who won a game that really didn't determine anything. They just got into the moment and let it go to a point where neither of them would back down. They couldn't help that they were competitive. It was in their nature. When it came down, they were friends and friends didn't let a game get between them.

"Sorry Bee…," Sari was the first to apologize.

"Me too Sari," Bumblebee smiled.

"Friends?" she held out her hand.

"Friends," he gently took her hand and shook.

"Good…," Bulkhead was glad it was over with, "Now. Can I please play?"

"I'll play you!" both of them volunteered.

They looked each other in the eye. A glint of fire blazed up between them. Apologies once said were now null and void.

"I said I would play him," Bumblebee remained calm.

"I said I would play him," Sari falsely smiled.

Bulkhead released a frustrated sigh, "Here we go again…"

It was truly on. The yelling and shouting started up once more. Though this time they were fighting over who would challenge Bulkhead. There was nothing the big guy could do. He just sat down with a big plop and waited for them to settle down. There would no battles for him that day; just a ringside view of Bumblebee and Sari duking it out with their words.

"I won, therefore I get to play Bulkhead!" Sari stamped her foot.

"You didn't win!" Bumblebee refused to believe it, "We don't know who won the most and you won't play one final round to determine who is the best," he smirked, "Therefore, you forfeit and I win by default. So I get to play Bulkhead," he stomped right back at her.

"NO WAY!" she threw her arms up.

"YES WAY!" he followed suit.

Unfortunately, he forgot that he was still holding his controller. It slipped from his grip and flew to the ground. It bounced and bounded across the floor. Pieces of plastics breaking off as it went along its path. It finally slowed and skidded to a stop nearly fifteen feet from them. All Bumblebee could do was watch on in horror as the controller lay nearly in pieces.

"Uh oh…," Bulkhead went over to the broken controller.

"Is… is it okay?" Bumblebee wasn't sure it he wanted to know the answer.

"Umm…," he slowly brought it into view, "It doesn't look to good…"

He was being rather nice about the condition. The joystick was barely hanging from a wire. The D-pad had popped out and somewhere else. Most of the colored buttons were either missing or fractured. A large crack ran up and down the front. Peeking through were hints of wires and a circuit board.

"Optimus isn't going to be happy that you broke another controller," Bulkhead brought it over to Bumblebee.

"… it's okay… it's okay…," he gingerly took the broken controller into his hands, "I just have to… all I need is… umm…," he was slowly starting to lose.

"Cool it Bee," Sari smirked, "I've got this," she twirled her Key around on her finger.

His eyes lit up, "What are you waiting for? Fire it up!" he set the controller down in front of her.

"Stand back boys," she smiled as she placed the Key next to broken hunk of plastic and metal.

Nothing happened.

"Come on," she shook the key, "Work."

Still nothing happened.

"Stupid Key!" she brought it up to her face, "Why won't you work?"

"Oh man! Oh man!" Bumblebee grew more nervous, "We've got to hide this before some bot finds out."

"Why not just tell the truth?" a voice came from behind the group.

They all jumped in surprise.

"PROWL!" Bumblebee growled loudly, "What are you doing?" he quickly hid the evidence of his guilt behind him.

"Merely observing a situation that can easily be remedied," Prowl folded his arms.

Bumblebee brought out the broken controller, "You… you gonna tell Optimus?"

Prowl turned his back to the group and started to walk away, "It's not mine to admit," he disappeared into his room.

He left them with those haunting, but true words. It wasn't his to tell… it was theirs… especially Bumblebee.

"We're really not going to tell Optimus? Are we?" Sari looked up to Bee.

Before he could answer, Optimus entered the room, "Tell Optimus what?" he crossed his arms as he surveyed the scene.

"Tell you… that… um…," Sari had a hard time answering.

Bumblebee quickly hid the controller, "Tell you… ahh…," nothing good was coming to his central processor.

Optimus let out a big frustrated sigh, "How about telling me how you three didn't clean up this mess?" he pointed to the piles of candy wrappers and empty oil drums, "I think there's even more of a mess then when I checked on you two hours ago!"

Somewhat relieved, Bumblebee kicked aside so trash that was close to him, "It's not that bad…"

"Not that bad!" Optimus tried to compose himself, "All I asked was for you three to clean up. Instead you made a bigger mess. We don't live in… in a…," he couldn't think of the saying, "… a peg pen?"

"I think you mean 'pig pen'," Sari corrected him.

"Whatever," he sighed once more, "I want this mess cleaned up by the time I get back," he started to head for the door.

"Going out Boss Bot?" Bulkhead asked.

Another sigh came from Optimus, "Apparently Ratchet took a stasis nap in a tow away zone… again."

"Let me guess," Sari knew where this was going, "He's making a scene."

"I'm going to calm the situation down," Optimus transformed, "And apparently get a boot off of him…," he wasn't sure what that meant, "Get this cleaned up by the time I'm back. NO excuses!" he exited out the opening garage.

They watched as he sped down the road and disappeared from sight. They breathed a sigh of relieve. Optimus hadn't discovered Bumblebee's folly. They still were chewed out about the growing mess, but that was the least of their problems. Right now, they had a controller to hid or fix. Whichever was the more viable option.

"Here's the game plan," Sari called in a huddle, "Let's get this place cleaned up as quickly as possible. You two start. I'll start searching for a way to fix… that," she pointed to the controller, "Or maybe get this stupid Key to work," she growled down at it.

But it didn't seem to pay her mind.

Bumblebee was about to argue, but Bulkhead wouldn't have any of it. He picked him up and carried him away from the potential fight. Bulkhead was not in the mood for another yelling match. There just wasn't time for an argument. They would be lucky if they had enough time to clean up the mess.

"I hope Ratchet is extra cranky," Bulkhead wished, "That will at least buy us some time."

That's really what they needed. Time. And luck. A little bit of luck would do nicely.


	2. Shock to the System

It was a good first chapter. Lots of hits and even a few reviews. I have to say that I wasn't expecting that. It does me good to see that people are enjoying the story so far. Any though there's only been one chapter. You know it's only going to get better. Anyway, I would like to thank Guest and Ise for their kind words. I would also thank all those that took their time to read. Hope to see you all next chapter. And please enjoy this one.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

It took some time and thank goodness they had plenty of it. Optimus had yet to return with Ratchet and Prowl hadn't emerged his room. The area around the couch and TV was cleared of all debris. There were still a few piles of trash, but they were easily swept under the couch. Out of sight, out of mind… especially Optimus'. Bulkhead was finishing up with the heavier items while Bumblebee and Sari were searching through the internet for answers. He didn't mind though. It kept him away from the pair that seemed determined to fighting that day. He just let them work it out of their systems. Whatever it was that they needed to work out. He just looked over and sighed whenever he passed by.

"This one was written by someone that actually designed the console and controller," Sari wanted to click on the link.

"But this one has full blueprints and step by step instructions," Bumblebee liked another, "It shouldn't be too hard to put it back together…," he wasn't exactly confident in his skills.

"I don't know…," she didn't like the look of the site, "Maybe I should try the Key again?" she held it up to the controller.

It still just hung there without showing any interest in what was going on.

"Stupid Key," she shook it once more, "Why won't you work when I want you to?"

"Guys?" Bulkhead finished taking out the last of the oil drums, "Maybe we should just tell Optimus. It has to be better than trying to hide it…"

Sari and Bumblebee looked to each other and then to him.

"Do you have a gasket lose?" Bumblebee asked, "If he finds out…"

"If I find out what?" Optimus pulled in and transformed.

"Nothing," Bee quickly swept away the broken remains of the controller.

He didn't believe him, "What are you three hiding?"

They looked to each other; not sure what to say. Bumblebee wouldn't dare say a word. Bulkhead just wished that some bot would admit his mistake. Sari was conflicted on what they should do. They all agreed that the last thing they wanted was to be reprimanded again.

"I'm waiting," Optimus folded his arms.

"Ah… well… we were… if you found out...," Bumblebee bumbled through his words.

"How good of a job you did," Prowl seemed to materialize out of thin air.

Optimus stepped over to the TV area. He inspected every inch that he could. Turning back to them, he gave a small smile.

"I'm impressed," he applauded them, "You guys really worked hard. I thought I would come back and there were still be a giant mess and you three would be playing video games or watching TV. I am very proud of you."

There was a sigh of relief, though it was released mentally.

"Thanks boss bot," Bumblebee quickly thanked him.

"I think you all deserve a break," Optimus smiled, "Why not play some of your games?"

"NO!" Bumblebee yelled, "I mean…," he composed himself, "We've been inside all day and we promised Sari that we would… we would…"

"Take Sari to the park," Bulkhead inserted for him.

"Yeah! Get some fresh air," Sari laughed nervously.

"That's a nice change of pace," Optimus was surprised by their response.

"Yup," Bumblebee quickly changed, "Come on Sari," he opened his driver side door.

"You got it Bumblebee," she jerkily got in, "You coming Bulkhead?" she indicated for him to follow.

"… oh…," he understood and transformed.

Together they slowly headed out of the open garage door. But once they hit the empty road, both Bumblebee and Bulkhead sped off. They nearly hit Ratchet on their way. He yelled at some words of anger, but they were long gone and didn't hear a word of it. He grumbled as he pulled in.

"Dang Young Bots speeding off! Not even looking where they're going!" Ratchet complained as he transformed.

"Something is definitely going on with those three," Optimus was growing suspicious of them, "Do you know what' going on with them?" he looked to Prowl.

Prowl stayed quiet for a moment, but answered calmly, "I know nothing…," and he walked away.

Optimus looked to Ratchet, but he only shrugged his shoulders. Looking out to where the three sped off, he thought it was best not to think about it. They did what they were asked and cleaned up the place. Whatever else they had going on would come to the light soon enough. When it did… he would deal with it then. There was still a lot of daylight left and he wasn't about to waste it wondering about things that did and didn't happen. Instead, he would spend his time running system checks and making sure that routine maintenance was done. Not the best way to spend a day, but it would do… considering all he had already been through this morning… a little bit of tedious work wouldn't be so bad.

It was a shame that a little bit of tedious work wouldn't have calmed the nerves of Sari, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. The only thing that would do that was if they could undo the mistake that hung over their head… what hung over Bumblebee's head. He was the one that would be trouble, but Sari and Bulkhead wouldn't have escaped Optimus' wraith. They were aiding and abetting after all.

They just drove around town. Turned down random roads or just hopped on and off the highway. Even sitting in traffic was preferable than heading back to base; anything than to be reminded of the task they had to perform. They were going to have to face facts. Eventually they would have to return and do what they could. Of course… they still had to decide on what they were going to do… and what Plan B was and maybe Plan C.

It was getting late though. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Optimus would be calling soon to see when they would be coming back. Didn't want to arouse his suspicions. He was already keeping his optics on them. They didn't want to give him another reason to. Slowly but surely they made their way back to the base. It was pretty quiet when they got back.

Prowl was standing there…. waiting. But he didn't say a word as they entered. His silence said it all. They knew what they should do, but it wasn't up to him… He merely turned away from them and headed for his room. They looked to one another, not quite sure if they should do something. Of course the only thing do was to set a plan to fix what had been done before any other bot found out.

It was set. They would meet once every bot had gone to their respective rooms. They wouldn't have to worry about any spying optics. They could research and rebuild in peace. The weight wouldn't be long though. Ratchet had already retired to the Med Bay for another stasis nap. Optimus had powered down after running a lot of routine system checks. That just left them with the internet and a broken controller to fix.

As the sun slipped away and gave way to the moon, the hunt for a way to fix their problem heated up. They had found several sites that claimed they could help, but many of them didn't have all of the answers. In fact, there wasn't even a guide on how to repair most of the problems. The whole thing just ended up in hissing arguments and hushing one another to keep quiet.

Bulkhead had taken all he could and said he didn't want any part of it. They made him promise that he wouldn't breathe a word of what happened. He, of course, agreed. They were his friends after all; even though they weren't acting like friends to one another. He headed to his room and tried to forget about the day. This left Sari and Bumblebee to fend for themselves.

"I still think the site I found earlier was the best one," she went to go click on it.

Bumblebee stopped her, "Now hold up. Why can't we use the one I found? It looks like it has way more information than yours."

Sari sighed, "But Bee, your site is flagged. It probably isn't safe."

"Since when do you care about safety?" he was surprised by her response.

She folded her arms, "Ever since Optimus yelled at us for downloading that Japanese Exclusive game that crashed the systems."

"Oh yeah…," Bumblebee had pushed that stern reprimand out of his memory banks, "But that won't happen this time… I hope so…," he whispered the last part.

"Look," Sari looked down at her feet, "I think we just need to admit defeat on this one. We should tell Optimus and accept our punishment. It would be better than sneaking around and lying to everyone," the guilt was starting to eat at her.

"NO WAY!" Bumblebee yelled in a hushed tone, "We've come this far and can't turn back now. Either you're with me or not," he held out his hand.

She looked to his outreached hand, but she couldn't agree, "I'm sorry Bee," she started to walk away, "I just can't… I won't say anything," she promised him, "I'm going to bed," she headed for her room.

Bumblebee couldn't believe that she was bailing on him. They had come so far and were on the precipice of completely covering up his mistake. How could she leave now? He shook his head. He still had work to do. Looking back at the screen, he knew what he had to do.

Clicking on the link, he started to read though the instructions and blueprints. They seemed legitimate enough. It shouldn't be a problem for him to follow… he use to fix Space Bridges. Those were way more advance than some silly Earth toy. Surely he could fix it… in no time. He looked from the screen to the busted controller and back again.

"ARRGGG! This doesn't make sense!" he yelled, then quieted himself down.

Looking around, he watched to see if any bot had woken up. Luckily it seemed that no bot heard him. Going back to the instructions, he had to find a way to figure them out. But the more he stared the more complicated the directions became. It wouldn't have been so hard if he didn't have to keep looking from the screen to the controller.

"I could do this better if I just knew how to do it," he thought for a moment.

An idea came to him.

"I'll just download it directly to my processor… I mean Intel bots do it all the time," he reasoned with himself, "Yeah… I'll just download the instructions and I'll be able to fix this mess in no time. Just need a… gotta!" he found a USB cable, "this should do."

Plugging one end into his head and the other into the computer port. Right clicking on the instructions, he readied them for download into his processor. There was a slight tingle as the instructions filled his processor.

"This isn't so bad," he smirked as he started to understand how to fix the controller, "Yeah… I think I've got it. Huh?" the tingle was starting to burn.

He wanted to pull the wire out, but he was slowly losing his strength. Falling to his knees, he tried to maintain consciousness. The world was starting to spin and fade as every part of his body began to ache. He managed to look back up at the screen. It was fuzzy and glitching out. He reached up for the console, but his body was no longer listening. The burning in his processor grew worse and worse. He felt like his circuits would fire. Streaks of blue light crossed through his line of vision. It appeared to be discharges of electricity.

"Huh?" he weakly uttered.

Crackle… crackle… WHOOSH!

He hit the wall with a sickening thud. He didn't fell it though. His body had already gone numb. Sliding to the floor, he landed in a heap. The world was growing darker as he began to lose the fight against nothingness.

"BEE! BUMBLEBEE!" he could hear some bot shouting his name.

"Sari…," he recognized her voice, "I should have just told Optimus…"

Everything went dark.


	3. Malfunction Destruction

I know it's been awhile, but I was inspired to write. I don't have much to say other than thank you to all those that have taken their time to read my story. My thanks also go out to Guest and FernandaAlonso9 for leaving some kind words. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.

 **Chapter Three**

She just couldn't understand why they wouldn't let her in. She should have been in there with him. She had so many times before. So many times before she was able to be with him… with all of them… when they were hurt. So many times she had healed and comforted them. That's when she was needed the most… that's when see seemed the most useful.

Her eyes fell from the Medbay doors down to the Key that hung around her neck. It just hung there as if nothing was happening. It seemed oblivious to the danger that Bumblebee was in. Couldn't it tell that he was hovering be being on and offline? Couldn't it tell the Bumblebee needed it? Couldn't it tell that... she needed him… now more than ever… But all it could do was hang there.

"Come on you stupid Key!" Sari brought the Key up to her face, "Why won't help him? I want to help him. I really, really, REALLY want to him. Isn't that all the matters?"

It didn't respond.

"Stupid Key!" she nearly threw it.

She was only interrupted by Optimus and Ratchet emerging from the Medbay.

"... I don't know Prime… I just don't know," Ratchet sighed, "His Spark is finally stable, but his systems are still all over the place. I've seen a lot of damage in my day, but I haven't seen anything like this before. Any other bot with systems going haywire like his should have a Spark in flux or at least having a more difficult time staying on line."

"But he's stable?" Optimus asked.

"... for now…," Ratchet signed once more, "I've still got some scans to run before I can give a more definitive answer…"

"Is he okay!? Is Bumblebee going to be okay!?" Sari ran up to the two bots, "Please tell me he's gonna be okay."

"Didn't you just hear me," Ratchet growled, "I don't know. I have to run some scans."

"Umm…," Optimus nudged him, "I think that you should…"

"So you don't know what's wrong with him?!" Sari couldn't help but yell out.

"I don't… if we knew more… I have to figure out… I need to know... I don't know! Okay?!" he became very defensive.

"Ratchet," Optimus placed his hand on Ratchet's shoulder, "We'll figure this out. All of us. Prowl. Bulkhead," he called over his comlink, "Do you have anything yet?"

"I'm afraid that the computer Bumblebee was using is wiped clean. There's not even a basic program on here," Prowl reported, "It appears to be blank."

"Blank?" Optimus didn't like the sound of that, "I'm coming to take a look."

"I'm going to check on Bee," Sari ran past Ratchet and Optimus.

"Kid I keep telling you that…," Ratchet started to say, but Optimus stopped him.

"Let her sit with him," he whispered, "I think she needs this more than Bumblebee does."

Ratchet looked from Optimus then to Sari who was trying to get up next to Bumblebee, "All right," he sighed, "I'll get started on those scans. I'll… I'll let you know if anything pops up."

"Thanks Ratchet," Optimus shared his sigh, "I'll let you know if we find anything."

The two parted ways as they each headed for where they were needed. Optimus was trying his best to hide his fears. The unknown was frightening. Especially when it was happening to a friend. He had to keep it together though. For his crew… for Sari. He had to find out what happened to Bumblebee. He only hoped that he would have a bit more luck with the computer.

"How can there be nothing?" Bulkhead scratched his head, "I mean it was working just fine yesterday…"

"Whatever Bumblebee did, he managed to erase everything," Prowl continued to study the empty screen, "Even the security footage…"

"But…," Bulkhead noticed Optimus' approach, "Sorry Boss Bot. We couldn't find anything. Literally…"

Optimus looked at the screen they were looking at. It was just a blank screen with the background pic of Sari, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. All the programs that they had set up, the records they were reviewing and Sari's collection of foreign cartoons that she might have not downloaded legally. It was all gone.

"It just can't be gone… there's always a trace… there's always something," Prowl seemed to think out loud.

"What could have done this?" Optimus asked.

Prowl thought for a moment, "... Nothing I've seen before. I tried to run diagnostic scan, but there is no scan to run. Teletran 1 tried to up re upload the programs, but the processor won't accept them. It says that the programs are corrupted and unsafe to run."

"We checked them on another computer and they ran just fine," Bulkhead explained.

"Is there anything that can tell us what happened to the computer or Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"We checked it top to bottom and the only thing that we have found are some scorch marks at one of the ports with a melted wire hanging out of it," Prowl pointed to the evidence.

"You don't think that he tried to download something into his processor? Do you?" Optimus looked to them.

Prowl didn't make a sound or move, but Bulkhead seemed to fidget and refused to make eye contact with the Prime. Optimus took notice.

"Is there something that you're not tell us Bulkhead?" he asked sternly.

"Um… no… not a thing…," Bulkhead looked everywhere but at Optimus.

"You're hiding something," he grew more stern, "Do you know what Bumblebee was doing out here?"

"Umm…," Bulkhead looked as if he were about to blow, "I… ah… ah… ahh…," he just couldn't think of anything to say.

"Bulkhead! This is Bumblebee's life on the line! If you know something you need to tell us," Optimus nearly yelled.

"Sari and Bumblebee were playing games yesterday and were arguing and arguing and wouldn't stop. Bumblebee got so mad that he threw his controller and broke it. We all promised not to say anything because we knew that you would chew our circuits out again. Last night, they started to look for ways to repair and kept arguing and I left because couldn't take it anymore, so I don't know what happened…," he gave a big sigh of relief.

Optimus blinked a few times to give his processor a moment to understand what Bulkhead had just say.

"He broke a controller and you three wouldn't tell me because you were afraid that I would repreman you? And now Bumblebee is in stasis lock and you didn't say something because you didn't want me to yell at you?" Optimus couldn't believe his auditory sensors.

"Well… when you put it that way…," Bulkhead mumbled as he fiddled with his digits and stared at the floor.

"It's not his fault entirely," Prowl spoke up, "I witnessed the incident and thought they would say something before they didn't anything… rash…," he looked to the computer.

"Did you bet on the wrong race car," Bulkhead continued to mumble.

Optimus sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his face plate, "I suppose you didn't see what he did last night then?"

"No," Prowl shook his head, "As I said… I had hoped that they or some bot would admit what was done."

Optimus bent down and looked at the melted wire. There wasn't much left; just a pool of plastic and the wires that ran through it. The wires appeared to have started to melt, but were mostly intact. The port that the cord protruded out of had singe marks surrounding it. There must have been a jolt of electricity. It must have been what cause Bumblebee to slam against the wall. There was an impression of his body still in the wall where he landed.

"Ratchet," Optimus called over the comlink, "Could…?" he was cut short.

"You better get in here Prime," Ratchet shouted over the comm, "Bumblebee just woke up!"

"Bee's awake?!" Bulkhead could hear Ratchet's screams.

"It appears so," Prowl looked up to him.

"Hopefully he can tell us what happened to him," Optimus hurried to the Medbay with Prowl and Bulkhead at his heels.

They entered the Medbay. Bumblebee was sitting up rubbing his head with a bewildered look on his face. Sari couldn't stop expressing how happy she was he was awake. She clung to his arm and was fighting back tears, though they were still coming. Ratchet was grumbling as poured over the scans to see what had changed. Nothing he could find. Nothing that was apparent.

"Little bubby! You're okay!" Bulkhead ran to Bumblebee's side, "I thought we lost you!"

"Lost me?" Bumblebee looked more confused, "Where did I go?"

"Come on now Bee, you know," he nudged Bumblebee.

"Know what?" Bumblebee scratched his head.

"We know about the controller," Optimus crossed his arms, "Bulkhead told us."

Sari snorted, "Bulkhead! You promised not to tell!"

"I know! I know! But this was Bee we were talking about," Bulkhead explained, "I had to say something… for Bumblebee."

"Sari," Optimus looked down at her, "You and Bumblebee should have just told me about the controller."

Sari huffed, "If we would have, you would have just yelled at us."

"Is that so bad in comparison to what happened to Bumblebee?" Prowl pointed out.

Sari looked to her feet. There was truth in Prowl's words. They should have just said something when it happened… or least when Bumblebee was injured. Maybe at least then they could have found out what was wrong earlier.

"I'm sorry Optimus…," she apologized, "You've just been on us so much lately that we couldn't stand another lecture. We just thought it would be better if we fix it ourselves and not tell you. We tried to find a way to fix, but we couldn't agree. I left him alone. I don't know what he did after I left though..."

Optimus sighed as he looked to her and then to Bumblebee, "It doesn't matter now. What done is done. All that matter is what caused Bumblebee to malfunction," he looked to him.

Bumblebee's expression had not changed, "I have no idea what you bots are talking about."

"Come on Bee," Sari was a bit disappointed in him, "Optimus knows. Just tell him what you were doing and let's take our lumps."

"Seriously, what are you guys talking about?" Bumblebee really didn't seem to understand why every bot was staring at him, "Did I do something wrong? And whatever it is I didn't do it."

"It's okay Bumblebee," Optimus assured him, "I'm not mad. I'm more concerned about how you ended up nearly offline…"

"And plastered into a wall," Ratchet added with a huff.

"Mad about what?" Bumblebee was growing more and more confused.

"Don't you remember breaking the controller yesterday?" Sari reminded him.

"Controller?" he scratched his head, "We were watching monster movies yesterday. I didn't even touch the game console yesterday."

"That was two days ago Bee," Sari grew concerned.

Ratchet quickly scanned Bumblebee's processors, "... that's strange… his memory banks seem to be functioning… a little warm… but nothing unusual…"

"I'm fine guys," Bumblebee jumped off the exam table, "See?" he turned around and transformed a few times, "See? Nothing wrong."

"Something is wrong if you can't remember yesterday or what happened last night," Prowl pointed out.

"Nothing happened last night!" Bumblebee was growing paranoid, "What's wrong with all of you?! Why are you all looking at me like that!? Stay away!" he switched out his stingers.

"Calm down kid," Ratchet tried to get Bumblebee to lay back down.

"Stay back med bot!" Bumblebee let forth a burst of electrical energy.

It crackled as it flew through the air towards Ratchet. It hit him with such force that it threw him into his equipment. He moaned as Bumblebee's electrical attack continued to surge through his body.

"Ratchet!" Optimus was surprised by the sudden attack, "Calm down Bumblebee! We just want to help you!" he went to grab Bumblebee.

"No… no you don't," he started to quiver, "You're trying to extinguish my spark… you don't think I'm useful anymore… you've been planning this for awhile… get rid of the little yellow bot… I see it now… it's been your plan the entire time… YOU'VE ALWAYS FOUND ME TOO ANNOYING!" he started to shoot randomly.

Optimus quickly ducked out to the way. Prowl was able to slip past Bumblebee and get Sari out of the line of fire. Bulkhead tried his best to avoid the stinging volts, but he wasn't the most graceful. He knew that he couldn't keep dodging his friend's attacks.

"Sorry about this!" Bulkhead apologised as he launched one of his wrecking balls at Bumblebee.

He saw the incoming attack and quickly turned his strings towards it. His electrical attack charged up and met with heavy blunt object. For a moment the wrecking ball hung in air as if time had stopped, but it was soon being thrown backwards by Bumblebee's powerful attack. It flew back and hit Bulkhead square in the chestplate. He landed with a hard thud in the wall, but it didn't give into his weight.

"BULKHEAD!" Optimus tried once more to get ahold of Bumblebee, "We don't want to hurt you!"

"But.. but… b-b-b-but… maybe I want to hurt you!" Bumblebee stuttered as he once more raised his stingers, "Maybe I want to hurt you… a lot…"

Optimus was frozen in place as Bumblebee's stingers began to glow with an intense light. He couldn't understand why he was behaving this way. None of Ratchet's scans showed anything with Bumblebee. But something had to be wrong. Something had to be making him act this way. Bumblebee would have never attached his friends.

"Bumblebee! You have to stop this!" Sari appeared in front of Optimus, "This isn't you!"

"Sari get out of here!" Optimus order her.

"Bumblebee listen to me!" Sari ignored Optimus, "We're you friends! We just want to help you! Please," she took a step towards Bumblebee, "let us help you…"

Bumblebee blinked his optics a few times as he looked down at Sari, "You… y-y-you want to h-h-h-el-p-p-p? You're… you're… m-m-my friends… Friends ends with ends…," he raised his stingers once more.

"Bumblebee! NOOO!" Optimus went to shield Sari.

He was about to let loose his electric attack, when a shuriken cut deep into his left stinger. He looked up to see Prowl in the rafters with another shuriken read to throw. With his remaining stinger, he sent a bolt of electricity in Prowl's direction. Prowl didn't move. The shot of energy passed right through him. It was only a hologram. Bumblebee looked around in confusion to where Prowl could have gone. He never saw the attack from behind. Bulkhead had managed to launch his other wrecking ball. It landed in Bumblebee's back and sent him across the room. He skidded until he hit the wall with a crash. Sari wanted to run over to him, but Optimus stopped her.

She understood. Things were not right.


End file.
